Solar energy has reached a record high for electricity generation in California.On August 20, 2015, the California state grid reached a whopping 6.391 gigawatts of solar energy.This includes all large-scale projects and concentrated solar power.That doesn’t even include what the number could have been with household solar panels that residents install on their roofs.However, according to the research of GTM, the peak generation could even be 50% higher.The previous records were from July 13th and June 7 when 6.16 gigawatts were produced.The rapid increase and the fast record setting shows that California is growing in their solar energy production quite rapidly.This has to do with the state’s new renewable energy goals. The governor of California, Jerry Brown, called for the state to reach at least 50% of electricity from renewables by 2030.The fast record setting is showing that this goal may be possible.The results so far are very encouraging.

This map shows where the most solar energy can be collected in California

BlueIndy is a new electric car sharing service that patterned after an already highly successful program in Paris.But BlueIndy is having trouble starting its engines because of it’s wanting to go to other nations, but that many people in the US don’t like the idea.Bolloré Group is deeply committed in it’s idea to share electric cars.They even have their own car design called the Bluecar.It has three doors and a four-passenger capacity.Right now, it only costs about $150 to join.This membership allows you to rent out a car whenever you need one.It’s really easy to rent, as all you have to do is pick it up at a charging station, drive it, and then return it to one of the many charging stations.The rental per half hour is only around six dollars.This makes it cheaper than owning a car, because it eliminates maintenance and repair expenses as well as insurance.Now the program has become so popular it’s being introduced to London and even Indianapolis.The car company signed a contract with the mayor of Indianapolis in April 2014.The problem is that the city council is very hostile against the program and is trying to delay the program over and over.The most recent attempt to stop the service was at the last demonstration, where the cars that were being used fit all European regulations, but didn’t fit the US bumper and seat belt regulations.They threatened to tow the demonstration cars and prohibited them from driving on city streets.BlueIndy doesn’t seem to care about the city council trying to stop the cars from rolling into the streets.They are starting their program in September 2 at 11 am.They have already begun to install the charging stations.The spokeswoman for the Mayor of Indianapolis says, “We’re eager to welcome the first wave of BlueIndy sites to Indianapolis.This service will complement our city’s growing transit options and soon will connect residents to jobs, amenities and cultural attractions in a convenient, affordable way.”The team of BlueIndy employees will be on hand during the launch to help people easily sign up.They say, “We look forward to repaying you with a service that meets your highest expectations and elevates Indianapolis to the utmost standard of clean, affordable, efficient transit.”They target the many downtown goers and college students of Indianapolis.They also believe that the current transit systems leave many neighborhoods underserviced.So why was the city council highly against this service that will clearly help their community?They seemed to be worried that the city wouldn’t have enough public funds to install up to 200 charging stations.They will owe the Bolloré Company a total of $41 million.The council also just doesn’t see how any program of car rentals couldn’t work.They don’t see the benefits of electric cars.It may have to do with the fact that so many car races are held here that the council just doesn’t get it.The Formula One officials named Indianapolis a “cow town” and it seems the council didn’t take that personally.

Google has announced that they are starting a 20% project that can help you learn about the possibilities of solar power on your roof.It will be used by people who might want to invest in solar power to see if it is worth the conversion.Google is allowing their employees to work on this project for 20% of their work time.Their projects may become part of the larger project that is currently available in the San Francisco Bay Area, Fresno (California), and the Boston area.Project Sunroof looks very similar to the application by Google call Google Earth.It uses aerial mapping to show your roof and the solar energy potential.Since this is currently only a 20% project, it is limited and not all places are available on the map yet. However, the creator, Carl Elkin, notes that they wish to explore being able to make this a tool that everyone can use, just like Google Earth.

In Tamil Nadu, their Handloom Weaver’s Co-operative Society Limited (Co-optex) have created a new trend of ecofriendly saris.In case you don’t know what a sari is, it is the garment worn by Hindu women.It’s very similar looking to a toga, but in most cases is bright and colorful.It is a long piece of cotton that is wrapped around the body and draped over the head or one shoulder.The cotton that the company is now using to weave its saris was grown without pesticides and fertilizers.This alone makes it organic, but they took it to the next level.They made it ecofriendly by dying it with chemical free vegetable colors.When this is done, it also becomes non-toxic and non-allergic.The Senior Regional Manager of Co-optex says that “These cotton saris are woven by traditional weavers of Negammam area in Coimbatore.These were first introduced in Tamil Nadu followed by Andhra Pradesh.”Since they are still woven by traditional weavers and are in the same kind of patterns, they are accepted by others of the religion.However, they are targeted to younger people.

Hello everyone! As I recently said, I will be moving post days to Sunday. I haven't even started this school year yet, but I can already tell I may end up having a lot of homework on Mondays. Plus, in general, it has begun to be more difficult for me to post on Mondays. So, the next post I make on here will start the new Sunday Alternative Energy Posts!

As a little extra something to make this post seem not as boring, here's a really cool train I saw. It was carrying a BUNCH of wind turbine blades out towards Austin and San Antonio area. (In other words, into the east part of Texas.)

The new Clean Power Plan is going to require the U.S. to use a lot more renewable energy by 2030.This plan couldn’t have been released at any better time for the Wind industry.The Department of Energy, which is charge of reducing Carbon Dioxide emissions, released two new reports that wind energy is booming. These reports suggest that wind is being installed fast.This is causing the wind prices to go down, the technologies are advancing, and it’s creating many news jobs.The United States has 66 gigawatts of wind energy installed currently.This supplies 5% of our energy needs and can power up to 17.5 million homes.13 more gigawatts are in the construction phase and will be online by 2016.(Just so you know, 1,063 gigawatts was how much energy it took to power the U.S. in 2012.)Wind is providing 73,000 jobs currently.The current cost for buying a Power Purchase Agreement, which is when you buy a wind farm, is at a low of 2.35 cents per kilowatt hour.Many new large companies are investing in wind energy to power their buildings or to make money.One example is Google.Another key to the advancement of wind energy is advancing the technologies.Wind turbines are getting taller.Their heights have increased by an average of 82.7 meters for new turbines.The diameter of rotors has also grown.They are now at an average of 99.4 meters.The taller and larger wind turbines grow means more energy, because of the fact that wind speeds are faster higher up in the sky.The second report being released today is focusing on the distributed wind energy market.This refers to people who don’t buy a whole wind farm, but just a few wind turbines.Most of the time it is for on site electricity.(There is one of these where I live.They call it Hueco Mountain Wind Ranch.I don’t understand how two wind turbines can be a wind ranch…)

The Only Two Wind Turbines In El Paso, Texas at the Hueco Mountain Wind Ranch

Hello readers! I wanted to update you all of some changes that may be happening soon.

First of all, I will be going back to school soon. Highschool starts for me on the 24th. With this in consideration, I want to warn you all that I may be changing the post dates to the weekend, possibly Saturday or Sunday. I will let you all know if any of this is going to happen when I get situated into my new schedule.

Secondly, also because of returning to school, there may be times where I just can't update in general. There may be weekends where I just have too much homework to update. With how hectic school can get, I may completely FORGET! This being said, if anyone comments on this site, it sends me an email, so I would be alerted if I forgot. If any of you are frequent readers, you can contact me through the new contact page I will be setting up, or through the comments. I would gladly take someone on board to be in charge of alerting me if I forget to post.

Now for some good news.

I managed to bring home a haul of alternative energy books and movies from our public library. Our main branch library is very good for these kinds of books, I was surprised to find.

I'll go over the videos first. (Note I haven't watched any of them yet)

The first video is called Solar Energy: Saved By The Sun. It is a NOVA video, so it is bound to be very good. The description says, "In Saved By The Sun, NOVA poses the burning question: Can solar power help save the Earth from the ravages of global warming? In the face of steeply rising oil prices and political turmoil in the Middle East, there's new urgency and enthusiasm for finding ways to make solar power more efficent and affordable. From indivduals installing solar panels on their roofs to industrial-scale projects in the Mojave desert feature massive arrays of mirrors, solar power is gaining ground in the US. And in Germany, the world's leading developer of solar power is on track to produce 30 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Breakthroughs in nanotechnology could make solar's future even brighter. NOVA presents a provocative mix of scientists, economics, and ordinary citizens who are all pushing the envelope of solar power's untappped potential." This video does sound quite interesting, but note the out of date stats. It was made in 2007, after all. Still will be very interesting.

The second video is called Renewable Energy and it is from the History Channel. Now I'm more excited about this video for two reasons, wind turbines are on the cover, and the fact that I've never heard of the History channel doing anything on this kind of topic. The description says: "With Oil prices rising and global warming a mounting crisis, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: the technological revolution of the twenty-first century is renewable energy. In this in-depth documentary, MODERN MARVELS examines how today's advanced technologies are working to harness air, water, earth, and fire to produce clean and reliable sources of energy. On a visit to the FedEx hub in Oakland, California, discover how this global shipping giant has mandated to employ solar power to produce 80% of its peak electricity needs, and find out how ancient civilizations were utilizing renewable resources more than two millennia before our time. Featuring interviews with energy experts, authors, and engineers, this incisive program examines the benefits of some of the most reliable renewable sources, including solar, wind, geothermal, biofuel, and tidal power. From the experimental to the tried-and-true, renewable energy sources are overflowing with potential. Now join HISTORY for this exciting look at these viable alternatives to fossil fuels."

Now for the books.

The first book is called Renewable: The World-Changing Power of Alternative Energy. The author is Jeremy Shere. The description says: " Where does the energy we use come from? It's absolutely vital to every single thing we do every day, but for most people, it is utterly invisible. Flick a switch and the lights go on. It might as well be magic. Science writer Jeremy Shere shows us in Renewable: The World-Changing Powerof Alternative Energy that energy is anything but magical. Producing it in fossil fuel form is a dirty, expensive--but also hugely profitable-- enterprise, with enormous but largely hidden costs to the entire planet. The cold, hard fact is that at some point we will have wrung the planet dry of easily accessible sources of fossil fuel. And when that time comes, humankind will have no choice but to turn--or, more accurately, return--to other, cleaner, renewable energy sources. What will those sources be? How far have we come to realizing the technologies that will make these sources available?To find the answers, Shere began his journey with a tour of a traditional coal-fueled power plant in his home state of Indiana. He then continued on, traveling from coast to coast as he spoke to scientists, scholars and innovators. He immersed himself in the green energy world: visiting a solar farm at Denver's airport, attending the Wind Power Expo and a wind farm tour in Texas, investigating turbines deep in New York City's East River, and much more. Arranged in five parts--Green Gas, Sun, Wind, Earth, and Water--Renewable tells the stories of the most interesting and promising types of renewable energy: namely, biofuel, solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower. But unlike many books about alternative energy, Renewable is not obsessed with megawatts and tips for building home solar panels. Instead, Shere digs into the rich, surprisingly long histories of these technologies, bringing to life the pioneering scientists, inventors, and visionaries who blazed the way for solar, wind, hydro, and other forms of renewable power, and unearthing the curious involvement of great thinkers like Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Nicola Tesla.We are at an important crossroads in the history of renewable technologies. The possibilities are endless and enticing, and it has become increasingly clear that renewable energy is the way of the future. In Renewable, Jeremy Shere's natural curiosity and serious research come together in an entertaining and informative guide to where renewable energy has been, where it is today, and where it's heading." This is going to be a pretty lengthy chapter book compared to the others that I got. At least I will have something to keep me occupied for a while.

The next book is title Green Careers in Energy. It is by a company called Peterson's and looks like it could be a little textbooky, but it still looks exciting. The cover is what made me want to check it out. It has a wind turbine, solar panel, a house, and a car on it. This makes me think it will cover a lot of information about the field. The description says: "About 2.3 million people worldwide are directly or indirectly employed in renewable energy-fields-and the greatest employment gains have occured in countries in which the government supports renewable energy,according to a recent Worldwatch institute study. * President Obama has emphasized that sustainability and clean energy are vital elements in sucessfully rebuilding the U.S. economy and securing more jobs. And because renewable energy sources are commonly more labor-intensive than fossil fuel sources, a transition to renewables promises job gains. Peterson's Green Careers in Energy pinpoints the best opportunities in the fast-growing and most promising renewable energy fields-solar, wind geothermal, hydroelectric and marine, biofuel, and hydrogen-with data on colleges,organizations, and institutions that offer courses,degrees,certification, and training/retraining." This is a book that is only available to people who buy books for a library or for students, like at a school.

The last book that I checked out is not about renewable energy, but about sustainable housing. The title is Prefabulous Plus Sustainable: Building and Customizing an Affordable, Energy-Efficient Home. The author is Sheri Koones and it features a forward by Robert Redford. This was a book I wanted to purchase when I was at the Fine Art's Museum in Houston, but it was REALLY expensive. I am glad I found a copy I could check out so I could see if I liked it before I spent any money on it. I am hoping to have a sustainable house when I grow up, and maybe even design it myself, so I was thinking this book might give me some help. While it is a thick book, it looks like a quick read because of all of the pictures. The description says: "About 2.3 million people worldwide are directly or indirectly employed in renewable energy-fields-and the greatest employment gains have occured in countries in which the government supports renewable energy,according to a recent Worldwatch institute study. * President Obama has emphasized that sustainability and clean energy are vital elements in sucessfully rebuilding the U.S. economy and securing more jobs. And because renewable energy sources are commonly more labor-intensive than fossil fuel sources, a transition to renewables promises job gains. Peterson's Green Careers in Energy pinpoints the best opportunities in the fast-growing and most promising renewable energy fields-solar, wind geothermal, hydroelectric and marine, biofuel, and hydrogen-with data on colleges,organizations, and institutions that offer courses,degrees,certification, and training/retraining."

Now, I haven't started reading any of these yet, or watched the videos, but I was so excited that I wanted to show you all. As I watch them and finish reading them, I am hoping to update you on how they are, and if they are worth your time reading, like I hope this blog is to you.

I apologize for all the blabbering about my finds, but I hoped that you all might enjoy reading these, so I shared. Please tell me if any of you have seen or read these before!

Solar panel cost continues to drop significantly, but there is still plenty of advancement that needs to be done before most people would see it as a substitute for fossil fuels.Installment is the most expensive part of a solar project.Unfortunately, even though they cost so much, they don’t put out as much energy as they could.At University of California Riverside, they think they have a technology that can make a panel produce more energy.A new coating can pick up the infrared part of the light spectrum.This normally passes right through a panel.The coating reshapes the light spectrum to what the solar panel can pick up.It contains cadmium selenide or lead selenide semiconductor nanocrystals and organic molecules.These simply do what they call “upconverting,” or changing photons so panels readily absorb them.Besides improving panels, they could improve biological imaging, data storage, or even organic light emitting diodes.

France has, again, made a new law that will help renewable energy.They want to reduce all energy consumption in France by 30% by 2030.Besides this, they also want to make the share of renewables in the energy grid 32% of the produced energy.These laws may seem skeptical, like it may not be possible by then.Here’s a complete list of their goals for 2030:1.Less Nuclear Energy2.More Renewable Energy3.Increase Renovation Rates for Improving Energy Efficiency4.Electromobility5.A Fivefold Carbon Tax Increase That Ends With $90.52 in 2030The combination of higher carbon taxes and increase in renewables sends the marker a new signal of a new country interested in the major energy change.The odd part however is that France is leading in nuclear energy.Now they want to cut it by 75% from now to 50% in 2025.This makes an opportunity for renewable energy investors as well as electric vehicle investors.There are a few companies that will be very likely to benefit from these laws. In France itself, the companies SunPower that is owned by Total S.A. is very likely to benefit.Total S.A. is a French energy giant and owns 66% of SunPower.Also in France, the company Alstom also can benefit in the wind and solar parts.Outside of France, Siemens, Vestas, and GE all have a lot of presence in the energy field in France.Siemens and Vestas focus on wind energy, while GE is all over the board.For electric cars, Renault, a French car company is the leader in electric cars in France.The Renault Zoe’s new model could deliver 150 miles in a single charge.The French environmental minister, Ségolène Royal, says that France has the most advanced legislation in alternative energy in the European Union.France has been in the forefront of renewable energy and ecofriendly actions recently, making many headlines with new laws and inventions.However, we will see if they make it to their giant goal.

Dionsio Gonzalez is a Spanish artist and architect, and he has some ideas for sustainable architecture that are straight out of the future.It is said he combines childlike glee and creativity to create incredibly sophisticated structural designs. His newest set of buildings he has called Trans-Actions.It looks mainly on sustainable architecture.“The unusual structures provide special retreats, workplaces, mobile observatories, hydraulic structures, or even stationary zeppelins,” says American Luxury.And they are right.These designs are clearly for the up and coming future of renewable energy and sustainable living.All of the designs are fairly different, which gives the sets a diverse, yet cohesive look to them.The cohesiveness of them comes from the fact that they all rest on pillars or support edifices.This helps them to minimize their impact on the environment.As well as not impacting the environment as much because of these support systems, it also helps the buildings to be less effected by the environment.They help to reduce the impact to the building itself, and mainly impacts the edifices instead.This also demonstrates the possible equilibrium that can occur when nature interacts with architecture. Gonzalez incorporated these elements to help his fascination of the dynamic between creation and destruction.These designs will hopefully help to minimize both aspects of building.

Here Are the Photos of the Set the Artist Released

Here's a link to Dionsio Gonzalez's Website In English

Welcome To Alternative Energy News

To keep up to date with the latest information on Alternative Energy, sustainable living, and global warming, read this site! I am trying to update every Sunday, so come back once a week for your newest news.